Tech

You'll be able to watch this year's Big East tournament in virtual reality

While most of the players in virtual reality are focused on developing gaming and travel experiences, NextVR has devoted its resources to putting you in the middle of live sports events.

Those endeavors will now include the realm of college basketball, as the company is teaming up with Fox Sports to live stream the quarterfinal, semifinal and championship games of this year's Big East tournament.

NextVR gave Mashable a sample of its live streaming sports VR last year by putting myself and other viewers courtside (virtually) at a Golden State Warriors game.

Image: NOAH GRAHAM, NBAE

Although that VR broadcast was marred by intermittent streaming glitches, overall, the experience was an exciting peek at the future possibilities of attending live sports events in VR.

Despite those hiccups, NextVR co-founder later told me that he expected the live streaming quality to improve in short order. We'll know if that's true soon, as the first VR broadcast will kick off on March 10 at 12 p.m. ET.

One of the cameras NextVR uses to stream its virtual reality broadcasts.

Image: NextVR

“Fans want to be a part of the action and virtual reality takes the fan experience to the next level,” Eric Shanks, the president of FOX Sports, said in an emailed statement. "Our relationship with NextVR comes at a time as the demand to enjoy these amazing ‘like being there’ experiences expands."

As with the NBA broadcast, viewers will need to use the Samsung Gear VR headset to view the VR live stream.

Additional instructions, as well as the full schedule for the VR broadcasts, are available on the NextVR website.

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